Justine Dupont Hospitalized After Horrific Wipeout at 25ft Todos Santos (Video)

I was sitting on a boat in the channel, when the women’s final kicked off at the 2026 Thriller at Killers big wave surfing event. Only a few minutes into the heat, French charger Justine Dupont took off on a bomb, got hung up on the lip, and went tumbling.

Her husband, Fred, was also on the boat. When Justine fell, he jumped to his feet, and handed me their young son, Elio. Immediately, Fred knew something was wrong; Elio, on the other hand, was bouncing on my lap, giggling as toddlers do.

When the safety crew finally reached Dupont, she lay on the sled, unable to move. From there, she was transferred to the shore, then the hospital, where doctors found she had broken a vertebra in her back. Here’s Justine’s message from the hospital room.

“I wanted to catch some big ones, but I ended up catching a big one on the head,” Justine said. “I messed up my back. I couldn’t surf anymore in the final. I want to thank all the surfers, the water safety, the medical staff. I needed to get out of the water. It wasn’t easy.”

In a grainy video from my phone – see below – you can see the wipeout. Dupont takes off with heavy offshore winds blowing up the face. She gets caught towards the top of the mammoth wave, then falls. Her giant board flips like potato chip in the howling wind.

It was one of the heavier wipeouts of the entire event, and a scary moment for sure. But Dupont, always a positive force, took the licking like a champ.

“I have been to the hospital in Ensenada, and then transferred to San Diego, where I am today,” she continued in her video update. “I will be able to leave tonight. I have an L1 vertebrae fracture. I will need to wear a brace for a few weeks, and then I will be able to surf and walk and run again in a few months. Everything is going to be okay.”

Here’s to a speedy recovery for the French charger.

For photos and full results from the 2026 Thriller at Killers event, see here.